Hunting Board Game

ABSTRACT

A hunting board game that includes: 12-sided die, a plurality of playing tokens, a deck of Supply cards, a deck of Hunt cards, a box, a tray, and a substantial supply of play money in various denominations comprises a hunting board game. Users roll the die (once per player per turn), draw cards, and move their tokens around the playing board according to rules provided in the rulebook. The first player or team to complete a predetermined number of hunts is the winner.

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/045,103 filed on Sep. 3, 2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Board games are a common pastime activity enjoyed by many individuals.Board gaming involves use of pieces or counters that are moved acrossthe surface of a board. The surface of the board usually includes anumber of squares and consequences that are related to the movement ofthe pieces around the board. All board games include a given set ofrules, strategy and objectives. The board game may involve both acertain skill or strategy along with luck in order to achieve a goalaccording to the rules associated with the board games. Individuals maycompete in board games on teams or individually. Further the number ofplayers may vary from two to up to seven or eight players. Board gamescontinue to be an excellent avenue for leisure activity, fun andcompetitive gaming.

As such it would be advantageous to have a board game available thataddresses a particular interest of the players. One particular area ofinterest is hunting another interesting past time enjoyed by manyindividuals. As a consequence, it would be advantageous to have a boardgame that was played on a board with pieces that incorporated varioustypes of hunting strategies.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a board game, and in particular to ahunting board game. Hunting games have proven be popular as arcade gamesand as home video games for consoles and computer. Unfortunately, theseare generally solitary games that accept a maximum of two players. Aboard game may enable a whole family, or a group of friends, toparticipate. The hunting board game according to the present inventionincludes a playing board with cards, die, and play money.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a game board for a hunting board game in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts components used in the hunting board game in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts tokens used with the hunting board game in accordancewith the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the invention in more detail, the invention is directedto a hunting board game. The game may be played by one to six playersindividually, or a maximum of four teams, each of which may becompromised by two players. Accordingly, the invention is directed to ahunting board game. The game comprises a playing, one 12-sided die, aplurality of playing tokens, a deck of Supply cards, a deck of Huntcards, a box, a tray, and a substantial supply of play money in variousdenominations. Users roll the die (once per player per turn), drawcards, and move their tokens around the playing board according to rulesprovided in the rule book. The first player or team to complete apredetermined number of hunts is the winner.

The first exemplary embodiment comprises a square playing board 100, one12-sided die 50, a plurality of playing tokens 40, a deck of one-hundredand fourteen Supply cards 32, a deck of thirty-six Hunt cards 34 and asubstantial supply of play money 30 in dominations of $50, $100, $50,$20, $10 and $5 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The playing board 100includes a Start space and several paths 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27comprised of event spaces and rest spaces. The event spaces include textand the rest spaces are blank. One path 21 follows the perimeter of theplaying board 100 around the Start space 20. Other paths 22, 23, 24, 25,26, 27 branch off, wind back and forth in the same manner as gametrails, and cross each other in the interior area of the playing board10. Users roll the die 50 and move their tokens 40 around the playingboard 10 according to the rules of the game that may be provided in arulebook. Wherever any path intersect, one or more arrows are printed onthe playing board 10, which indicate the directions users may choose tomove their tokens 40.

An optional tray may provide a separate indentation for eachdenomination of play money and separate, appropriately sizedindentations for the die 50, a Hunt deck 34, and a Supply deck 32. Theplaying board 100, which folds in half, the rulebook, and the tray withall other game components may be stored in a game box, not shown.

Users roll the die 50, draw cards, and move their tokens 40 around theplaying board 100 according to rules provided in the rulebook. Play mayproceed in an individual mode or in a team mode. In the individual mode,1-6 individual players are given one game token and starting money. Inthe team mode, 2-4 teams of two players each are given two tokens andstarting money for one preferred embodiment. The starting play money isgiven as follows: 2×$500 bills; 3×$100 bills; 5×$20 bills; 3×$10 bills;4×$5, totaling $1600. Each player or team begins with a hunting license.The hunting license may be imaginary (e.g. described in introductorytext in the rulebook) or a printed certificate or card may be provided.Before beginning, players decide on the length of the game in number ofhunts, which is preferably a number between one and six, with more huntstaking longer to complete than fewer. The first player to complete thedesignated number of hunts is the winner. Second and subsequent placesmay be determined by comparing the total weight or mass of the huntedanimals that players have completed; the weight or mass (for example, inpounds or kilograms) of each animal is given on the corresponding huntcard 16. Players may resign at any time without affecting the rest ofthe game. Notably, players do not know initially what type of animalthey will hunt or what equipment will be needed.

The supply cards 32 and the hunt cards 34 are separated into theirrespective decks and randomized, and the hunt cards 34 are placed on thehunt deck square. A player is designated to handle the supply cards 32.The supply cards 32 are sorted into separate piles of the same supply (6copies of each supply card are provided), and each pile is kept facedown. A player is designated the banker: to monitor play money 30 notdistributed to players. $50 dollars of 30 may be placed in the foundmoney space 13. Play order is determined by each player rolling the die50 once; the player with the highest roll goes first. Further play ordermay be determined according to any rule, for example in order of lesserrolls, by player age, or in order around the board clockwise orcounterclockwise.

Play proceeds by the players taking turns rolling the die 50 and move adesignated number of spaces. Players begin on the start space 20 andproceed in the direction indicated on the printed arrows. Upon reachinga junction with two or more arrows, players may choose a path, but mayonly proceed in one of the directions indicated. The paths in the centerof the board 100 are distinct from the perimeter 21 of the board 100 maybe designated as “trials”, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.

When a user's token ends a move on a Hunt space 11, the player draws thetopmost Hunt card 32. The player draws a hunt card only once per turn,and subsequent landings on the hunt space 11 enables the player tocollect additional hunt cards 32 up to a total of six uncompleted hunts.The hunt card 32 specifies the animal to be hunted and the suppliesrequired. The hunt card 32 specifies the tags needed for the animalspecified and the cost thereof. The player must pay the cost of thetags, the player may be required to put the hunt card back. The tags arenot physically represented in the game parts.

When the player lands on an animal for which he or she has the relevanthunt card 32, the user may attempt to shoot the game animal shown on theHunt card 32 if a Weapon card, all required tags, and all requiredsupplies are possessed by the player. If the player lacks a hunt cardfor the specified animal or does not meet all of the requirementsstated, then nothing happens; in this circumstance, the play may be saidto be “scouting” as opposed to “hunting” the animal in question. Whenplaying in a team mode, either play may obtain a hunt card 32 on behalfof the team, which shares a single hunt card 32.

When a user's token ends a move on a blank space, the user does nothingand the player's turn has ended. When a player's token ends a move on anEvent space, the player performs the action described by one or morewords printed or received. Money to be paid (e.g. the event space 12labeled “Game Warden”) is taken from the player and added to be foundmoney space 13. Money received from competitions is paid from the bankto the player, however if a weapon is specified (e.g. “air riflecompetition”) the weapon is understood to be supplied at the competitionand the money is paid to the player regardless of the player's supplycards.

Words describing a supply item designate a supply card space. Thespecific designations may include any of the group of: rifle, bow,knife, air rifle, pistol, shotgun, muzzle loader, flashlight,binoculars, backpack, tree stands, tent, 4-wheeler, squirrel call,turkey call, pig call, and deer call; the designations correspond to thesupply cards 32 of which six are provided for each supply. Landing on asupply card space enables the player to buy the corresponding supplycard. If the player chooses to buy the supply, then the listed price ispaid from the player to the bank, and the player designated todistribute supply cards hands the corresponding supply card to theplayer by taking the topmost card from the pile corresponding to theparticular supply. Supply card 32 from the deck of Supply cards 32. Theplayer may retain any number of supply cards, but may not keep more thanone of each type. When playing in team mode, the team shares one pool ofsupply cards 3C, and each player on the team may obtain supply cards 15.During a player's turn, the player may offer to sell, buy, or tradesupply cards with other players, however only one supply card may bebought, sold, or traded per turn and players may only enter thesetransactions with other players. Supply cards 15 may be kept aftersuccessful hunts for further hunts, until the game ends, however at theend of a successful hunt, the player may offer to sell all supplies thatwere required for that hunt to other players, or auction them accordingto the procedure below; if supplies go unsold, they may be sold to thebank for half their face value (when dividing prices, the results arerounded up to the nearest $5).

If the player lands on a space supply card 32 that he or she cannot keep(because they it already) or does not want to buy (players may buysupplies that they do not presently need for resale to other players),then the supply card 32 is placed in auction square 13A. Auctions mayalso be elected by the player after a successful hunt as describedabove. When a supply card 15 is placed on the auction square 13A,players begin bidding, starting with the user whose turn is next. Theminimum bid is the face value purchase price. Players may take turnsbidding until a high price is reached and no one chooses to bid higher.If the Supply card 15 is not purchased at auction, it is shuffled backinto the Supply deck. Proceeds from all purchases of Supply cards 15,including auctions, are paid to the player whose supply is auctioned.

The playing board 100 and storage box are preferably manufactured from arigid, durable material with a printed surface, such as coatedcardboard. The play money 30 and rulebook are preferably manufacturedfrom a flexible, durable material with a printed surface, such as paper.The Supply cards 32 and the Hunt cards 34 are preferably manufacturedfrom a semi-rigid, durable material with a printed surface such aplastic. The tokens 40 are alloy, or plastic. Components, componentsizes, and materials listed above are preferable, but artisans willrecognize that alternate components and materials could be selectedwithout altering the scope of the invention.

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one ofordinary skill to make and use what is presently considered to be thebest mode thereof, those of ordinary skill in the art will understandand appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, andequivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. Theinvention should, therefore, not be limited by the above describedembodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methodswithin the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hunting board game comprising: a. a game board,where the game board includes a plurality of spaces and each space isone of an event space or a rest space; b. game pieces, where the gamepieces are used by game players; c. a first path of spaces around theperimeter of the game board; d. a series of branching paths, where thebranching paths extend from the first path and intersect within aninterior of the game board; e. a die, where the die is used by gameplayers to determine movement over the game board; f. a plurality oftokens, where the game players select and use a single token formovement around the game board; g. a deck of hunt cards, where each huntcard describes a unique hunt associated with the game; h. a deck ofsupply cards, where each supply card describes a particular supply foruse by a game player; and i. play money, where the play money includes aplurality of denominations.
 2. The hunting board game according to claim1, where the plurality of denominations includes $500 dollar bills, $100dollar bills, $20 dollar bills, $10 dollar bills and $5 dollar bills. 3.The hunting board game according to claim 1, where the game boardincludes a first square for the supply cards and a second square for thehunt cards.
 4. The hunting board game according to claim 1, where eachhunt card designates an animal to be hunted, supplies required for thehunt, tags needed for the animal and costs of tags.
 5. The hunting boardgame according to claim 1 further including a found money space on thegame board.
 6. The hunting board game according to claim 1, where eachsupply card includes at least one of rifle, bow, knife, air rifle,pistol, shotgun, muzzle loader, flashlight, binoculars, backpack, treestands, tent, 4-wheeler, squirrel call, turkey call, pig call, and deercall.
 7. The hunting board game according to claim 1, further includingan auction square on the interior of the game board.